It's Now Illegal In California To Send Video Online Anonymously
from the give-up-yer-names! dept
Remember that ridiculous law they were working on in California requiring everyone to include their "true name" with any "commercial" audio/visual material they send online? Well, apparently it's now the law. That's right -- sending any commercial audio or video files without attaching your name and email address could lead to big fines and jailtime. The fact that this goes completely against child privacy laws saying kids should never be forced to give out private info apparently wasn't a concern. It's not clear if the final version of the law made exceptions for fair use (the original version didn't) or content that has been designated for free sharing by its creators. It's also not clear exactly how you "attach" your real name and email address. Basically, all this law really does is give California an excuse to arrest anyone who does any file sharing -- because it's clear that just about everyone is going to violate this law pretty quickly.
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